Most people know they should cut calories and exercise more to trim down, but there’s now significant scientific evidence that another critical component to maintaining your natural normal weight is avoiding sleep deprivation, sleep scientists say.

“There is no doubt that insufficient sleep promotes hunger and appetite, which can cause excessive food intake resulting in weight gain,” says Eve Van Cauter, director of the Sleep, Metabolism and Health . She has spent 15 years studying the topic.

Here are six specific ways sleep deprivation is linked to weight gain.

When you are running on low energy, you automatically go for a bag of potato chips or other comfort foods.

Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin.

Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin.

The more sleep-deprived you are, the higher your levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases your appetite.

When you’re sleep deprived, the mitochondria in your cells that digest fuel start to shut down.

Your body goes into survival mode. Sleeplessness can fool your body into thinking you’re in danger. Your metabolism slows because your body is trying to maintain its resources, and it also wants more fuel.

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Mathew Fox last weekend. He is a theologian and Episcopal priest who was a Dominican friar for 34 years.

One of my favorite sayings of his life work is this…….

Our prophetic work is to interfere with all forms of injustice and that which interrupts authentic life (Via Transformativa).

It was a potent time for me to hear him in person, since we have witnessed so much “interruption” of authentic life in the past few weeks with devastating hurricanes and the mass shooting in Las Vegas. During the seminar, I felt moved to ask Mathew a question. I asked him for ideas about how we can move beyond the grief, fear and sadness that has interrupted our lives these past weeks. I thought I would share his answer in case it helps you to move through anything you are experiencing.

His short answer was PRAY THE NEWS.

I loved how he explained this term. The news is full of negativity and yet it also has stories of the strength of the human spirit and compassion and love. We need the balance of both of these sides. Be informed, but choose how much of your precious time is spent on the negative news and make sure you balance it with stories of compassion and service and the strength of the human spirit.

Many studies suggest that more than 70 percent of the immune system resides in the gut. At the center of all this is the microbiome, or the community of bacteria living in our digestive tract, which seems to become more important to our health every day.

A new research study, published in the Journal Science on August 4, 2017, shows that a particular gut microbe can prevent severe flu infections in mice, likely by breaking down naturally occurring compounds called flavonoids , commonly found in foods such as black tea, red wine and blueberries

In this study, scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine were able to identify one specific bacterium, called Clostridium orbiscindens, that is particularly important for preventing the influenza virus in mice. This specific bacterium is able to break down flavonoids which can increase the signaling power of interferons, which are immune-system-modulating proteins that play a very important role in the body’s ability to fight viruses—viruses like influenza.

Next steps include identifying other gut microbes that also may use flavonoids to influence the immune system, as well as exploring ways to boost the levels of those bacteria in people whose intestines aren’t adequately colonized with those microbes. As those future studies are planned, the researchers said it might not be a bad idea to drink black tea and eat foods rich in flavonoids before the next flu season begins!

The take-home message? A flavonoid-rich diet and microbes work together to enhance the immune system. This study is a reminder that everything in our body is intricately connected and that healing our gut and eating a nutrient-rich plant-based diet will go a long way.